Ho Wai Loon

In this Chinese name, the family name is Ho.

Ho Wai Loon (Chinese: 何维伦; born 20 August 1993) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a central-midfielder or left-back for Singapore Premier League club Albirex Niigata (S), whom he captains and the Singapore national team.^[1]

Ho Wai Loon

Personal information
Full name	Ho Wai Loon
Date of birth	(1993-08-20) 20 August 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Singapore
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Central-midfielder / Left-back
Team information
Current team	Albirex Niigata (S)
Number	24
Youth career
2011–2012	Balestier Khalsa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2016	Balestier Khalsa	21	(0)
2017–2018	Warriors	37	(2)
2019–2021	Lion City Sailors	20	(0)
2021	→ Balestier Khalsa (loan)	8	(0)
2022–2023	Balestier Khalsa	47	(4)
2024–	Albirex Niigata (S)	0	(0)
International career‡
2019	Singapore U23	3	(0)
2017–	Singapore	7	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 March 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2023

Education

Ho studied at Canberra Primary School, Canberra Secondary School and ITE Yishun.^[2] He later joined the Home United Academy.^[2]

Club career

Balestier Khalsa

Ho started his football career in 2011, playing for Balestier Khalsa.^{[citation needed]} Ho was released in 2013 but signed for Balestier again in 2014 for the 2014 S.League season.^{[2][citation needed]}

In 2015, Ho tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) which kept him out of play for more than a year.^[3][4]

Warriors

He then signed for Warriors FC ahead of the 2017 S.League season.^{[citation needed]} That was where he gained his first national team call up.^{[citation needed]}

Home United

In January 2019, Ho joined fellow S.League club Home United.^[5]

In March 2020, Ho fractured his right ankle during training.^[3]

In April 2021, Ho returned to training with Lion City Sailors (formerly Home United) but found himself out of the club squad.^[6] During the mid-season transfer window Ho moved to Balestier Khalsa on loan from till the end of the 2021 season to regain his match fitness.^[6][7]

Balestier Khalsa

Ho later moved to Balestier Khalsa^{[citation needed]} where he was named the team's captain.^[8]

International career

Youth

Ho played at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games football tournament, although he was sent off for his second yellow card offence in Singapore's must win game against Indonesia U23.^[9][10]

Senior

Ho was first called up to the senior side in 2017, as a standby player for the friendly against Afghanistan and the 2019 Asian Cup Qualifiers against Bahrain on 23 and 28 March 2017 respectively.^[11]

After being included in the national set-up for a year, Ho finally won his first cap for Singapore in a friendly against Fiji on 11 September 2018, coming on as a substitute in the 62nd minute.^[12][13] Ho made his first start and second appearance for the national team against Cambodia on 16 October. However, he scored an own-goal and was eventually substituted early in the 46th minute.

Ho was called up in September 2022 by head coach Takayuki Nishigaya for international friendlies against Vietnam and India on 21 and 24 September.^[14]

Others

Singapore Selection Squad

He was selected as part of the Singapore Selection squad for The Sultan of Selangor's Cup to be held on 6 May 2017.^[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 March 2023.^[16]

Club	Season	Singapore Premier League		Singapore Cup		Singapore League Cup		Asia		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Balestier Khalsa	2011	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2012	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2014	5	0	2	0	0	0	—		7	0
	2015	9	0	0	0	4	0	5	0	18	0
	2016	7	0	3	0	4	0	0	0	14	0
	Total	21	0	5	0	8	0	5	0	39	0
Warriors	2017	18	0	0	0	5	1	—		23	1
	2018	19	2	2	0	0	0	—		21	2
	Total	37	2	2	0	5	1	0	0	44	3
Club	Season	Singapore Premier League		Singapore Cup		Community Shield		Asia		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lion City Sailors	2019	19	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	25	0
	2020	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2021	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total	20	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	26	0
Balestier Khalsa (on loan)	2021	8	0	0	0	0	0	—		8	0
Balestier Khalsa	2022	24	0	6	0	0	0	—		30	0
	2023	23	4	1	0	0	0	—		24	4
	Total	55	4	7	0	0	0	0	0	62	4
Albirex Niigata (S)	2024–25	14	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	15	0
	Total	14	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	15	0
Career Total		147	6	14	0	14	0	11	0	186	7

International statistics

Singapore national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2018	2	0
2022	1	0
2023	1	0
Total	4	0

International caps

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	11 September 2018	Bishan Stadium, Bishan, Singapore	Fiji	2-0 (won)	Friendly
2	16 October 2018	Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Cambodia	2-1 (won)	Friendly
3	21 September 2022	Thống Nhất Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Vietnam	0-4 (lost)	2022 VFF Tri-Nations Series
4	23 March 2023	Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong	Hong Kong	1–1 (Draw)	Friendly
5	26 March 2023	Macau Olympic Complex Stadium, Macau	Macau	1–0	Friendly

U19 International caps

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	8 November 2011	Petaling Jaya Stadium, Selangor, Malaysia	Indonesia	0-3 (lost)	2012 AFC U-19 Championship qualification

Honours

Balestier Khalsa

• Singapore Cup: 2014
• League Cup: 2013

References

1. Kenneth Tan (21 July 2015). "S.League: Balestier's Ho Wai Loon ready for Albirex rematch". ESPNFC. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
2. Leong, Kelvin (8 May 2015). "Ho Wai Loon chases family wish". ESPN.com. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
3. Auto, Hermes (30 July 2021). "Football: After 506 days of waiting, Ho Wai Loon is just happy to be playing ball again | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
4. "S.League: Tigers wary of Geylang wingers". ESPN.com. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
5. "Home United unveil Singapore left-back Ho Wai Loon as latest signing". Fox Sports. 2 January 2019. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
6. Chin, Nigel (2 July 2021). "Having learned how to walk again, Ho Wai Loon hits restart button on career | Youthopia". youthopia.sg. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
7. "Ho Wai Loon leaves Lion City Sailors to complete Balestier loan". Lion City Sailors FC. 12 June 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
8. Lee, David (16 March 2022). "S'pore Premier League to implement video assistant referee in 'near future'". The New Paper. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
9. Tan, Carissa. "SEA Games Football: Ho Wai Loon sent off as Singapore fail to qualify for semis after losing 0–1 to Indonesia". RED SPORTS. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
10. Kelvin Leong (11 June 2015). "Hosts Singapore out of SEA Games after shock 1-0 defeat to Indonesia". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
11. "Call up for national team". Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
12. "Singapore put two past Fiji to record first win under Fandi Ahmad". FourFourTwo. 11 September 2018. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
13. "SG Ratings: Baihakki, Hariss and Mahler seal victory for Fandi Ahmad". FourFourTwo. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
14. "WEEKLY ROUND-UP: Sports happenings in Singapore (12-18 Sept)". sg.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
15. "SINGAPORE SELECTION SQUAD FOR THE SULTAN OF SELANGor's CUP REVEALED | the Football Association of Singapore". Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
16. Ho Wai Loon at Soccerway. Retrieved 13 March 2023.

External links

• Ho Wai Loon at Soccerway